Sunday, 15 November 2015

Bricks and Mortar Retail in Egypt will Survive Only with Digital Customer Experience Revolution, says Expert from Aruba

A digital customer
experience revolution will rejuvenate bricks-and-mortar retailing, but stores
must start on the back foot

CAIRO, Egypt, 15th
November, 2015: In-store retailing has been under
rising pressure from increased costs of doing business, as well as the growth
of online shopping. Yet, bricks-and-mortar sales still accounts for the
majority of retail spend. As per a recent report,
according to a new publication from Hamburg-based yStats.com, online shopper
penetration in Egypt stood at below 10%. The country is still behind a number
of other emerging economies in the ecommerce stakes due to factors such as
delivery challenges, a preference for face-to-face, lack of choice due to
limited range of online products and services, no price differential as
compared to as compared to in-store purchases, consumer privacy concerns,
prevalence of cash on delivery and others.

Jacob Chacko, Business Lead – SMB &
Commercial, Middle East & Turkey at Aruba Networks, a Hewlett Packard
Enterprise Companybelieves that the
retail model of the future will be a radically different experience from today,
largely driven by the changing shopping demands of the younger hyper-connected
consumer. Bricks-and-mortar retailing will remain to be a very significant part
in retail, however the lines between channels will erode at the benefit of both
the customer and the business. Advances in technology will significantly
improve the relationships between retailers and customers, much the way
analytics is already doing to online shopping.

Real opportunity lies in responding to this change, focusing on
delivering a truly integrated and seamless omni-channel experience. The future
of retail is an exciting one, and over the next few years we expect to see a
number of key developments taking place in stores around the globe:

The emergence of the smart
personal shopper

Online retail will continue to exist for customers who want to buy a
specific product and have it delivered to their home. But those who enter a
store do so to learn, to view and feel items and to speak to a person. As the
physical environment of a store changes, communication barriers between
customers and employees such as counters will be removed, enabling staff to
provide a more personalised experience.

Mobile technology will revolutionise the sales process and
experience. Tomorrow’s retail staff will be unleashed from the sale counter,
and given the equipment to connect with customers across the entire store,
offering a more consultative approach. In fashion retail for example,
assistants will be able to show customers a range of outfits and styles a
particular item could work with.

With a real time view of stock and availability, they will be far
more capable of closing sales, only recommending items that are both in stock
and in size, whilst offering further choice and reducing wait time for
shoppers.

The rise of immersive
engagement

Walking past a store, a customer’s phone buzzes, offering them to
try on the same pair of jeans they saved in their online basket a few days ago.
Enticing them in, as they’ve already shopped online, for today only they will
get an additional 10% off all purchases.

Location-aware technology will identify customers’ mobile devices,
enabling upsell and cross-sell offers based not just on what they’re viewing,
but also what they’ve purchased before. As customers roam the store, engagement
programmes will link with in-store beacons to dynamically offer up suggestions
at various points along the store path.

Here, the loyalty programme and the new found freedom of the retail
assistant will combine and, with a shared purchase history, the best retailers
will enable assistants to make personal style recommendations, based on
customer preference and items they may already own.

Part of matching the new connected consumers’ expectations will be
delivering a seamless, frictionless payment experience, removing any barriers
slowing down the speed of a retail sale. Eliminating queues from stores, roaming
staff, now empowered by mobile technology will be able to transact with
customers in seconds, as shoppers keep focus on the purchase experience rather
than the cost.

One of the most
important factors to consumers, payment security requires additional compliance
with higher security standards, ensuring consumers are protected from
fraudulent activity and avoiding the irreparable reputational damage and
financial costs associated with a breach in payment security for the retailer.

This adoption of mobile, digital payments will further enable
retailers to offer things like on-demand delivery options, where products can
be delivered straight to the customer’s home or even car.

For retail businesses, this will also likely lead to higher
revenues. Just as the shift from cash to plastic showed consumers are willing
to spend more when not parting with cash, so too will sales be further
strengthened by further dissociation from the traditional bank instrument - the
card.

The road to the future

These hyper-connected consumers already in the marketplace have a
rapidly growing share of spending power. This always-on generation demand
things like fast internet access and a more seamless, digital experience
they’re already getting from other services.

While new innovations are being tested and tried in today’s market,
much of this development is stifled by existing and fragmented existing IT
infrastructure, negatively impacting the customer experience, and slowing the consumer
adoption of new technologies that could help drive the retail business forward.

Because of this, retailers are already starting on the back foot. To
build a successful platform for innovation across multiple channels, they must
ensure the technological needs of today’s customers are fully met, otherwise
they face being left in the dust. Focus on enriching the customer experience
immediately, and set the stage for rapid innovation in the coming years.